Give A Little Bit

I woke up Wednesday morning with a dream that terrified me... I hated people. My attitude towards other was completely out of line and I had no respect, no interest, in what was going on with the people around me. It was an odd dream, but convicting. As soon as I woke up I knew that God gave me this dream for a reason.

In my last post I stated the importance of the church, of missions, and caring for others, etc. This dream goes hand-in-hand. After waking up I was so discontent with myself, just the emotions from the dream made me feel so selfish, uncaring, and self-absorbed. How much time do I spend praying for others, taking an interest in their lives, or just taking time to acknowledge them?

Where I work it's hard to think of others, mostly the customers, because you develop bonds with the coworkers. There are some picky shoppers at the mall and its a challenge. It's also a challenge to work retail and NOT complain. But that day I went to work with this dream in mind, and halfway through the day I come across an elderly lady shopping. (Most women that age that come in our store are usually pretty clueless about what they're looking for). I noticed she was caring a little oxygen tank and was walking very slow and limping. I felt bad and went and offered my assistance. I spent half an hour looking for a sweater that she liked for her friend for Christmas, unfortunately there was none left in the size she wanted. This is where I stop feeling bad... She was sooo insistent that I find THIS sweater. She asked me a million different questions, ex. if the store could order it for her, if I could order it from her, if there was a way to save it at another store, so on and so on; all of which we can't do. Normally this would be nothing, but when you can see the dissatisfaction on the customers face and they wish to speak with a manager then you know you have a picky shopper, which somehow always rubs me the wrong way. I reassured her and offered some similar sweaters and then even offered other stores nearby that might have something similar. She sat down and sighed real heavy and told me she went to the store next door and couldnt find anything similar over there but worst of all she tried to find assistance, for some one to help her and no one would. I could tell by the way she was talking she was burdened. How could someone look at the lady and refuse to help her. She could barely walk, she was all by herself, and she could barely breath! She told me how thankful she was that I was able to spend what was now an hour trying to help her and how much she appreciated that I cared. She left with a smile but still no sweater :-/  This was a sobering day at work. I couldnt stop thinking of my attitude with this lady. That if I hadnt taken the time to help her how much more dissatisfied she would have been. Even though it's just a small thing as a sweater, it was still humbling hearing those words from her.

All yesterday I continued thinking about this dream and that opportunity Wednesday. Being back on Facebook, I've been trying to keep up on all the updates and continue praying for those I'm connected with. Like I said in my last post, it's not about me. It's other first then me. And with Thanksgiving coming around, the season that advertises your one-a-year thankfulness, I thought this might make a good post. But I was convicted that there is so much more as Christ's followers that we can give. Give a little bit of your time to pray for others, give a little bit to stop to talk to someone (caringly) who would normally get on your nerves, give a little bit to read God's word, give a little bit to pick up another person's slack, give a little bit just to help someone.

24 hours in a day, how much of that time am I using just for myself? How much of that time is glorifying God?